December 20, 2016

Here in Syracuse, NY, we are in the process of choosing whether to
rebuild I-81 through the city or reroute it and replace it with a
street-grid solution---the community requested alternative for the
project. I'll dispense with discussing the rebuild option because it
doubles down on a bad idea (highway through downtown) by enlarging it,
which will require demolishing dozens of historic properties, loosing
more taxable property, and the public will not allow it. Anyway, the
tea leaves suggest that the community and political leaders prefer the
"Community Grid" (i.e., street-grid) alternative.

The NYDOT Community Grid alternative has improved quite a bit from its
original plan thanks to NYDOT incorporating several suggestions from
the community. However, many issues remain. Mainly, the plan proposes
to keep and actually enlarge North Side I-81, plus add "missing"
flyover connections to the downtown spaghetti junction with I-690, an
addition we don't need or want and which will add blight to a recently
redeveloped city district. Also, several historic buildings would be
demolished or compromised. In a unanimous resolution, the Syracuse
Common Council has asked NYDOT to reconsider it's plans to enlarge
I-81. A summary of current issues is here:
http://arsteca.net/i81/#i81_october_update.

The NYDOT plan addresses only the removal of a 1.4 mile viaduct on the
city's South Side. But this was only "Exhibit A" of the community
request to remove I-81 within the city. Deconstructed, the current
"Community Grid" alternative is more accurately a "Rebuild I-81 with a
'remove one viaduct' option".

Simply put, the current "Community Grid" alternative does not fulfill
the community requested project alternative: removal of I-81 within the
city. We have a South Side street-grid alternative, but we are missing
a North Side street-grid alternative.

A full street-grid solution will work much better than a one half
solution: better north/south primary street alignments and traffic
dispersion; and by removing I-81 north and south, the downtown
spaghetti junction with I-690 would be eliminated as well (no longer
required or relevant), a bigger win for the community than removing the
southern viaduct, and would create vast new development opportunities
for Syracuse. The hundreds of millions of dollars saved could instead
be spent on improving numerous streets and intersections—a much
greater benefit for all residents.

With the $1.5 billion projected budget, we could rebuild all the
primary city streets and create more efficient intersections, plus, in
the process, fix sewer pipes, lay broadband conduit, bury utility
cables, add a couple streetcar lines and create new pedestrian plazas
and green spaces (dig once, save big). Or, we could simply rebuild what
is already there, effecting no meaningful or positive change on
Syracuse. What would you do if it was your money and your city?

Moreover, while the Community Grid plan (est ~$1.5 billion) will likely
stimulate an additional $1 billion in private development (Almond St
corridor), a full street-grid solution will likely stimulate an
additional $4 billion (Almond St, North Side, Erie Blvd E & W, and downtown)
for a total of ~5.5 billion versus ~$2.5 billion in economic stimulus—both greater than the Rebuild I-81 option (~$2 billion). So the biggest prize for
contractors, unions, developers, builders, and architects, and the
greatest economic growth and well-being for the community will come
from adopting a full street-grid (a.k.a. "Efficient Streets") solution.

The NYDOT mindset for addressing North Side I-81 seems inconsistent and
quite opposite of that applied to the South Side. The DOT mindset of
10+ years ago (presumed need of freeways through cities) is still
lingering in the corners of NYDOT projects despite the new thinking and
policies USDOT has officially adopted since then (thanks for that).

So I ask you please to embolden NYDOT to include in the project a full
analysis of a North Side street-grid alternative; to embolden local
officials to stand strong for the community (they are shy, you know);
and to embolden State officials to assure that the project is built
according to what is truly technically, economically, and culturally
best for the future of the community.

The community has submitted a conceptual plan for a North Side
street-grid alternative. See:
http://arsteca.net/i81/#revision_3_i81_north . If NYDOT should find
fault with the details, then they should not reject it, but rather try
their hardest to resolve the issues and make it work. For it should be
clear by now that a freeway through a city is never a requirement; it
is a choice, a choice that 50 years of experience throughout the
country has shown to be a very ill conceived one.